CONGRESSMAN THOMPSON TO HOST SECRETARY OF INTERIOR, DEB HAALAND’S  VISIT TO MISSISSIPPI CIVIL RIGHTS SITES

(Washington D.C.) – Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS) and the Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland will visit Civil Rights Sites in Mississippi on Tuesday, February 15, 2022. The visit will give Secretary Haaland a first-hand account of the people and places significant to the nation's Civil Rights struggle that began in the Mississippi Delta.

The first stop will be the Emmett Till Historic Intrepid Center. The E.T.H.I.C. Museum provides a visual history and educational information about past atrocities. "We are hoping that the museum provides hope for a brighter future and allow healing to begin," Thompson said.

The second stop will be the Emmett Till Interpretive Center. This location is the courthouse where the trial was held for the two men charged with Emmett Till's murder. The courthouse has been preserved as a museum and interpretive center. The goal of this center is to tell the story of the tragedy and provide some measure of racial healing.

The third stop will be Mound Bayou, Mississippi. Although Mound Bayou is 42 miles away from Sumner, Mississippi, it played an essential role in the Emmett Till trial and is significant to the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi.

The fourth and final stop will be the Medgar & Myrlie Evers Home National Monument. Medgar and Myrlie were partners in the Civil Rights struggle. The murder of Medgar Evers took place at their home on June 12, 1963. It was the first murder of a nationally recognized leader of the American Civil Rights Movement.

Each location is vital to the history of the American Civil Rights movement. As Rep. Bennie Thompson travel to each spot with Secretary Haaland, let us be reminded of Black History Month and the significance of Emmitt Till, Medgar Evers, Myrlie Evers, and the other Civil Right leaders.